Tag Archives: Music

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“There’s a party at 5:30 at the end of the dock.” “You mean ******* is back and anchoring Happy Hour?” “No, ***** **** hired a band and is providing heavy h0rs d’oeuvres.”

We wandered down, and the band had a warm up singer! The h0rs d’oeuvres were heavy and tasty. ***** **** was a brand new 50 foot sailboat. Our Host was the woman owner from Kilmarnock, VA (a place we once owned retirement property). She invited folks to tour the boat while we were waiting for the band, “Brown Tip,” which meant two more guys, Brown Tip* (who sang) and both played ripsaws with a dinner knife in the “rake ‘n’ scrape**” style — a combination of washboard and theremin sounds (as they bent the saws). Quite an effect, and the singers were good. They let the equipment amp up the sound and sang within their good voices. When they shut the amps off and sang and scraped, Janet called it “sawcapella.”

At any time there were 30 of us tapping toes, swaying, dancing, chatting, telling boat stories…all told I’d say 50 folks had been there.

We ran into “K,” the Dark & Stormy Guru (and he shared the one he brought).

Except for the Captain, his truly charming girlfriend, their dog, and the owner’s daughter(?), the group was plus or minus 10 years of us. All of us showed mileage; a few showed wear and tear; no one showed any signs of running out of gas…

* Matheson “Brown Tip” Cooper, also cleans boat bottoms using SCUBA…just the way it is in the Abacos.

**This YouTube Video (not of our making) is a better recording than were able to make. The opening performer was the second band member.

What?

This is the #1 Band in the Bahamas. They are GOOD! They perform every Wednesday Night here at Green Turtle Club. And folks know it. Last night the normally calm, 1/2 to 1/3 full open air restaurant was jammed. We showed up about five minutes before we would have ended up waiting an hour to an hour and a half. The maitre d’ had saved a table for us, but it had been let go as we showed up later than our usual. If we aren’t living right, then for the moment, we are living lucky.

Still, the crowd was ruly (opposite of unruly, right?) with the exception of two boys allowed to use the restaurant as a playground while their parents ignored other diners’ reactions. With the restaurant abutting the water and the tide high, we wouldn’t have been surprised if one of the boys had drowned.

The bar was jammed as well. There was a sense of go with the flow with only a very few folks headed toward insensate.

The dance crowd ranged from eight years old to +/-eighty? One of the eight year-olds was channeling a nephew of ours — when not acting as (screen)doorman. We complimented him to his mother.

The overall vibe was one of happiness rather than cathartic release. People came for a good meal and a good band, and they got them both. It was the one time (except for the derelict parents) we did not see a human being of any generation with a piece of dehumanizing technology in hand. [Sad to say many of the kids we've seen have only partially been in the Bahamas thanks to the connectivity here. Perhaps they are reading e-guide books...riiiight]

A Front approaches. It may be the last strong one of the season as the weather service is now talking about the Trade Winds which, once established, tend to block the Fronts and begin creating the dynamics for more showery, sometimes thundery days.

What will blow will blow.

Speaking meteorologically, of course.

 pic is from an album cover